The Scion xB, as you all know, was a lightly modified version of the Japan-only Toyota bB. It got left-hand drive, different seats and a manual transmission as an option (Japan had it as an auto-only) and that was pretty much it. When it came to redesign the damn thing there shouldn’t have been any problems. Just take the Japanese bB again and do exactly the same process. You literally have to do nothing else to do but follow the same set of instructions.

Alright, the second-gen bB had lost some of the simple utilitarianism that made it so cool and desirable for the young and the the old in equal measure. Good heavens, it has curves. It also lost a pair of windows along the sides. According to Wikipedia it was designed “as ‘A Car-shaped Music Player’ to hopefully satisfy the preferences of the younger generation.” I apologize, the sound you are hearing right now is me, groaning over yet more #millenial #marketing #hashtag #howDoYouDoFellowKids exercises.

Rather misguided attempts to capture a younger demographic aside, their heart was in the right place, certainly in a better place than the one that came with the fatbox. It was actually smaller in length than the first-gen xB (3.8 meters instead of 3.9) but had a slightly longer wheelbase (2.54 instead of 2.49); width and height were practically unchanged. Under the hood you had a 1.3 and another 1.5-liter engine producing 108 horsepower. Not the same engine mind, just an engine with similar displacement producing similar horsepower and torque numbers. A familiar four-speed automatic was still doing duty.

The front may be not the best angle to look at it, but from the back it was a lot more palatable a design. Dare I say, stylish? Again, at least not worse than what we got.

The interior keeps on the theme of the rest of the car of changing just what was right and not messing with a winning formula. I will say this though, I’ve never been a fan of centrally mounted instruments. I have no idea who was the brainbox that thought of it but I think he probably did it as a cost-cutting measure. I can’t think of any other reason to put the instruments on a place where you have to move your head slightly to look at them instead of just looking slightly down and leaving the place where they should’ve been all along with a horrible expanse of nothing. But I digress…The center pod instruments were given a much needed redesign that made the tachometer of a size that humans could actually see and the parts bin controls were updated to the latest generic Toyota parts. It may not be to my liking, but I guess that’s just part to the charm. Even though I suspect the rev counter on the XB1 is all but invisible most of the time.

The second bB made it out of Japan, just not to the United States. Those of you who watched Top Gear will probably recognized it badged as a Daihatsu Materia in an episode where Jeremy Clarkson compared it to an Ascari A10. Quite favorably actually.

The brilliant thing about the bB is simple: it’s pretty much the same car as the first one. At least, the underlying ideas and concepts are the same. It’s the same size, it has similar engines, similar interiors. Like the xB it’s a blank canvas to which the buyer could pretty much project whatever he/she wanted. I guess it *is* similar to a music player in that way.
But having presented it to you I now have to ask: would it have worked if it had come stateside? Well…yes! Okay, the fact that it was slightly smaller may have put off some people but the young ones (and the not-so-young ones) who wanted a cheap, safe, airy, spacious, fun car with good fuel economy and low running costs that had made them successful in the first place would keep on coming.
And anyway, the chances of it doing worse than the Camry in a drag that we got are very slim indeed. I mean seriously, what were those people thinking?

22 Comments

As yet another very-happy-and-don’t-want-to-trade-it 2005 xB owner (actually bB owner, more on that later), I think I could have cottoned to the second gen JDM bB coming over here. Definitely way more than the oversized abortion that we did get. One drive was enough to put me off on that model completely.

While we’re on the subject, I’ve got a question on mine (bought used, of course) that I hope someone has a clue about.

My car is what seems to be the standard American market xB (five speed, black on black) with one exception. All the model markings on the car are the JDM bB, front, rear, and (fake carbon fiber) door sill plates. All other markings are standard Scion.

I haven’t seen another xB tricked out this way, and they don’t look aftermarket. Some form of dealer installed option package? Early model? Anybody have a clue?

I’ve got my ’05 xB up for sale right now. It has, in many regards, been the best vehicle I have ever owned. Except on the highway. If it had a little more power and taller gearing, it would have been perfect.

Fortunately, it’s a bit of a cult classic, and has held its value very well.

Highly practical and roomy. Essentially because it’s a compact van, converted into an MPV. Like the Ford Tourneo Courier below, based on the smallest model Ford Transit, the Courier. And there are many others.

The 1G Scion xB aka Toyota bB was actually based from the Toyota Echo chassis much like the Scion xA/Toyota ist were and both were the first original Scion models. The 2G Scion xB/Toyota bB were actually now separated at this point since the Scion xB was now based from the JDM Toyota Corolla Rumion and the Toyota bB a completely different and smaller Daihatsu Materia. The 2G Toyota Yaris based Scion xD (the xA replacement) aka Toyota Urban Cruiser continued on with the 2G Yaris chassis. Our Scion xD was discontinued by Toyota in 2014 while the Toyota Corolla Rumion based Scion xB is being discontinued after this year. The indirect replacement for both are going to be the Scion iM based from the Toyota Corolla Auris 5 Door Wagon/Hatchback and the Mazda 2/Demio based Scion iA aka the Toyota Yaris 4 Door Sedan for Canada.

Wow! I never realized the Toyota Urban Cruiser (sold in Chile) was a Scion… I think the front in the xD makes the thing look much better. Also, “Urban Cruiser” sounds silly to me. That obsession with everything being “urban”, as if it really meant anything. And no, you are not a (Land) “Cruiser” either.

The Scion division of Toyota was actually meant to be the cheaper versions of Toyota Cars which were made for JDM and elsewhere so they are below Toyota in hierarchy while Lexus is above the Toyota hierarchy. The Scion branding is only available in the U.S. and Canada while elsewhere same models where called Toyotas.

Ive always liked the 1st gen xB. Not only are they kinda cool looking but useful, easy on gas and their simplicity lends them to being fodder for modifying however you want. The 2nd gen…just tries too hard, I think. They had it right the first time, why mess with that? A bit more power and available awd is about all it needed. Of course the bB ‘open deck’ model would’ve been pretty cool stateside….so long as the manual trans is available.

This has a better view of the ‘bed’ than the above pic. I just happened to like the white wheels (reminded me of wagon spokes) against the mustard yellow paint better than this one with the bronze rollers. Total throwback look!

If you are talking about the 2008- Scion XB, gas economy with the dated 4 speed auto, is not that good. I was getting 26-28 MPG on the non traffic clogged highway no matter how I drove my 2nd gen XB. By contrast, if I drove the car it replaced (2005 Lesabre) in the same environment, I got 26-27 MPG out if it and it was a much bigger car with a more satisfying ride to it.

My 2012 XB was the car that swore me off Toyota forever. It is not so much the car as the local Toyota dealers. I had both the regular and extended warranties on the car and yet no issue I was having with the car was covered under warranty. I tried several dealerships in my area(Darcars, Carmax Toyota(aka Laurel Toyota), Antwerpen Toyota and Toyota of Bowie and all wanted to charge me for something that should have been under warranty (such as a failing water pump at 12,000 miles etc) Calls to Toyota USA and Scion USA were no help (“our dealerships are autonomous and they choose what is warranty and not”) what a crock of crap. In the end I traded the car in and lost $1000 and bought a Kia and discovered a dealership experience that was so much different then Toyota.

I will never ever buy another Toyota again and if it comes to the point where i have to walk and ride a bus to get around or buy and own a Toyota product, I will be getting a bus pass.

You can sell a young man’s car to an old guy. I’m 72 and drive a Nissan Cube. You may think it’s different but I think the Xb/Cube/and Scion are pretty much the same car.

I only have two complaints: 1. The CVT and light payload it requires. Toyota probably wins that one, and 2. They have stopped selling it.

The transmission keeps getting better and I would love to buy another new cube when this one craters. Functional, fun to drive, and keeps the wife happy. The bb would do the same. Don’t care for the obese current generation. The only one that may be left when this is worn out just might be the soul.

A textbook example of “longer, lower, wider, and more powerful…..wrecking a very balanced product”.
Amazingly, Toyota has produced what is basically the same Corolla (with minor updates) for, what, 20+ years? And they go from cool to …..? in one generation of the xB.
It looks like the folks who designed the xB were “on vacation” when the current model was designed.

The first and second generation bB’s have one fairly significant distinction; the first generation was a Toyota project thru and thru, where as the second generation bB was actually developed by Daihatsu, and is built in their Ikeda, Osaka plant. Instead of Vitz underpinnings, the second generation cars use the Daihatsu Boon as their platform base. They also exclusively use Daihatsu engines; either the 1.3 K3-VE or 1.5 3SZ-VE. Their relative lack of Toyota parts and engineering may explain why these never made it Stateside. Also, there is actually a third member of this family, the Subaru DEX:

On a related note, is Toyota going to have Mazda do all their subcompact engineering for them now? In other words, since the iA is a rebadged Mazda2 sedan, does that mean the next Yaris be a rebadged Mazda2 hatchback? An xB-like vehicle that drives like a Mazda doesn’t sound too bad…

YES it definitely looks that way that Toyota is now taking that route ala GM when both automotive giants under the NUMMI nomenclature joint ventured together to produced Corolla based cars for Chevrolet – the Chevrolet Nova/Geo Prizm and Pontiac Vibe – the Toyota Corolla Matrix later on. It sounds like a great possibility that the next generation Yaris 5 Door Hatchback will be a rebadged Mazda2/Demio 5 Door Hatchback much like the 2016 Toyota Yaris as it is known in Canada/Scion iA 4 Door Sedan for the U.S. was basically a badge equipped Mazda2/Demio 4 Door Sedan currently is. Since the Mazda2 was discontinued in the U.S. after 2014, Mazda replaced it with the Mazda2/Demio based CX-3 mini-SUV instead. Toyota will not receive the Mazda CX-3 model, but this would have been a suitable replacement for the recently discontinued Scion xB had this been planned and shared with Toyota. INMHO if Toyota had the wherewithal, they could have used the exclusive Southeast Asian sourced Toyota Vios for a Yaris 4 Door Sedan and Yaris 5 Door Hatchback instead of a Mazda to keep it as a Toyota as possible. In addition, Toyota might also be receiving a Miata based roadster from Mazda which would nearly be a foot shorter than the current Subaru BRZ sourced Toyota/Scion 86.

No way Toyota would abandon small cars! They have Daihatsu to take care of the smallest segments, that are huge in Japan. And then the Yaris is huge in South East Asia. Developing those kinds of cars is essential for Toyota future.

Another thing that makes me wonder about the gen2 xB is the presence of the Toyota Matrix. It’s for all intents and purposes a Corolla hatchback, but one would think it competes pretty much head on with the bigger, less distinctive 2g xB whereas it didn’t share much with the original. It even offers the same 2AZ-FE engine as an option in the higher trim levels.

The Toyota Matrix, Lexus CT and the 2G Scion xB may indeed share the same chassis much like with the Corolla Sedan, but their body designs were much different and people probably would even overlook their identical platform. Same can be said with the Toyota Camry based Avalon, Highlander, Sienna, Venza and Lexus RX and ES.